There have been incessant reports of the collapse of buildings resulting in the loss of lives and properties globally. However, there has been a dearth of information regarding any findings about the collapse of building structures. An extensive study of causes of selected building collapse in Nigeria and abroad is carried out in this work by visiting some locations of building collapse, reading journals and newspaper articles on structural defects and testing rubbles collected from collapsed areas. This study therefore examined the general causes of the collapse of some buildings particularly the reasons for the collapse of Saint Thomas’s 2-storey Church Hall, Akure. Laboratory testing was carried out in this study to investigate the causes of collapse using samples from the site of the collapsed building. An appraisal of the structural drawings of the collapsed building was also investigated. Findings revealed that the building collapsed due to poor design, bad construction materials and inadequate supervision. The paper concludes that buildings collapse can be reduced in Nigeria by avoiding all. It recommended use of only duly registered professionals in the building industry for construction.

1. Invention Journal of Research Technology in Engineering & Management (IJRTEM)
ISSN: 2455-3689
www.ijrtem.com Volume 2 Issue 8 ǁ August 2018 ǁ PP 38-46
|Volume 2| Issue 8 | www.ijrtem.com | 38 |
Assessment of Building Failure: The Case of Saint Thomas’s
Anglican Church, Akure, Nigeria
Fakere, Rufus Adelanke
Ministry of Works, PMB 606, Akure, Nigeria
ABSTRACT: There have been incessant reports of the collapse of buildings resulting in the loss of lives and
properties globally. However, there has been a dearth of information regarding any findings about the collapse
of building structures. An extensive study of causes of selected building collapse in Nigeria and abroad is carried
out in this work by visiting some locations of building collapse, reading journals and newspaper articles on
structural defects and testing rubbles collected from collapsed areas. This study therefore examined the general
causes of the collapse of some buildings particularly the reasons for the collapse of Saint Thomas’s 2-storey
Church Hall, Akure. Laboratory testing was carried out in this study to investigate the causes of collapse using
samples from the site of the collapsed building. An appraisal of the structural drawings of the collapsed building
was also investigated. Findings revealed that the building collapsed due to poor design, bad construction
materials and inadequate supervision. The paper concludes that buildings collapse can be reduced in Nigeria by
avoiding all. It recommended use of only duly registered professionals in the building industry for construction.
KEYWORDS: Akure, building failure, poor design, construction materials, St. Thomas’s Anglican Church
I. INTRODUCTION
A structure is a whole building, complex, framework or essential part of a building. Marshall and Nelson (1981)
defined structure as a body capable of resisting applied loads without any appreciable deformation of one part
relative to another. In a simpler form, a structure is that which carries load and transfers the load from the point
of load application to the point of load support. The structure of the building is therefore that part of the building
construction, which gives the construction sufficient strength to withstand the load to which the whole building
in subjected. A building structure does this by carrying the load imposed on it and transferring them safely to the
foundations and hence into the ground. There are two broad sub-divisions of the structure. The first type is the
framed structures, which resist applied loads by virtue of their geometry. The second type is the mass structures,
which resist applied loads by virtue of their weight. According to McGinley (1998), buildings are utilized
primarily for living, working and storage. He further categorized them into three broad types. The first is the
monumental structures which comprise the churches, city halls and sports arena. The second is the institutional
structures represented by the more usual kind, such as block of flats, tertiary institutional buildings for academic
and administrative purposes. The third group comprises the industrial structures represented by the ordinary
small-scale industrial types. Ogunsemi (2002) disclosed the basic requirements that a building must satisfy. Every
member of a structural system should be able to resist, without failure or collapse, the applied loads under the
service conditions. In other words, it must possess adequate strength. This demands that the materials of the
structure must be adequate to resist the stresses generated by the loads. The shape and size of the structure must
be adequate also. The components of the structure should be able to resist deformation under loading conditions.
Deformation implies a change in size or shape when a body is subjected to stress. This means that the component
should possess adequate stiffness. Thus, the stiffness of a beam or column is a measure of its resistance to bending
or buckling. A material or structure that is very strong but lacking in stiffness will so much deform that it will not
be able to resist the applied loads. All the structural members of the building must be stable, otherwise the whole
structure will be assumed unstable. Structural stability is needed to maintain shape since it is the ability of a
structure to retain under load, its original state of equilibrium. It can mean anything from resistance to a minor
degree of movement to resistance to sliding, overturning, partial or complete collapse. Any phenomenon that can
alter the load carrying behavior of a structure, if not properly taken care of can lead to instability, a condition in
which the support reaction is less than applied load, thus to ensure stability, loads must be balanced by reactions
and the moments due to loads must be balanced by the moments due to reactions. Any building that cannot
withstand the load applied to it will show signs of distress, which may lead to failure and invariably total collapse.
Nigeria has witnessed in the recent times a number of collapse of buildings in some cities. When buildings
collapse, they create deep emotional reactions from every segment of the population. Consequently, very rigorous
attempts have been made by various professionals connected with building construction to identify the causes of
the collapse of buildings. However, failure of structural members and foundation of buildings, which normally

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lead to collapse in most cases have began since the inception of technology materials. The news of collapse of
buildings has always been on the increase in the Daily News Papers, not only in Nigeria but also in various parts
of the world. The collapse of the Saint Thomas’s Church Hall, 2-storey building, Arakale Akure, which was used
as a case study in the project occurred on the 30th
of September in 1998. The tragedy, which killed and injured
several people drew the attention of Government functionaries, Engineers and other professionals from within and
outside the State to sympathize with the state government and members of the Church. Since there was no
investigation to the causes of the collapse in order to guard against future occurrence, the paper intends to
determine the real causes of the collapse. This study shall provide answers to the following questions:
1. What are the causes of the collapse of Saint Thomas’s 2-storey Church Hall, Akure?
2. What are the possible solutions to building collapse in the study area?
3. This study is organized into five sections: literature review, methodology, data analysis, results and
discussions, and conclusions.
II. LITERATURE REVIEW
Retrospectively, Powell and Billington (1984) defined building as any permanent or temporary structure and,
unless the context otherwise requires, it includes any other erection of whatever kind or nature. On the other hand,
buildings are enclosures for spaces designed for specific uses meant to control local climate, distribute services
and evacuate wastes. They exist to meet the primary physical human needs of shelter. They are seen as structural
entities capable of securing self and applied weights on to the ground.
Past records have shown that the early man’s methods of constructing shelters are quite different from those of
the modern technological era.
Izoma (2001) admitted that shelter represents one of the most basic human needs and has no doubt a profound
impact on the health, welfare and productivity of the individual. In spite of its importance, there is unfortunately
a universal shortage of desperately needed dwelling units. The methods used by the early men to build their house
could be criticized to some extent. Though the period is referred to as the dark ages, when modern technological
inventions and discoveries were yet to be made. A house built with mud block, as a matter of fact, without good
concrete foundation is not durable. Also, during that period cement had not been in existence. The moment there
are cracks generated on the walls because of differential settlement could easily lead to endangering the lives of
the users. In the event of serious rainstorm and wind, the house built with mud, bamboo and palm trees will not
stand the tests of time. Such houses are not conducive for living. Any time there is an outbreak of fire; these
houses could be easily burnt, destroying lives and properties. However, the early man’s methods of building their
houses were dangerous and risky to lives and properties.
Syal and Goel (1993) disclosed that most of the structures in the past were made either in masonry, steel or timber
depending upon the availability of the materials and the nature of the structure. Very recently, concrete, as
building material, has come into existence. In a short period, concrete has gained so much importance that today
more than 65 percent of the structures coming up in the world are constructed with concrete. During the Gothic
period of Architecture (1100-1500 A.D.) churches with pointed arches ribs supported by stone pillars strengthened
by buttresses. These structures led to the idea of framed structures. The great pyramid is one of the most
extraordinary works of Architecture ever executed. Approximately, two thirds the size of Hoover Dam, it stood
for more than four millennia as the largest man-made structure on earth, rising to a height of 137.4m from the
base that was carved from the solid bedrock of the Giza plateau that covers 5.2 hectares and constructed of an
estimated 2 million blocks of lime stones and granite. However, failure of structural members and foundation of
buildings, which normally lead to collapse in most cases have begun since the inception of technology materials.
The news of collapse of buildings has always been on the increase in the Daily News Papers not only in Nigeria
but also in the world as a whole Records have shown recently that multi-storey buildings collapsed in Lagos,
Ibadan, Kano, Kaduna, Akure and many other Towns in Nigeria where so many people lost their lives. These
have also happened in various parts of the world.
Historically, the site of the collapsed building as reliably gathered from the reports of the questionnaire returned
is a built-up area. A built-up ground is a refuse, excavated rock and soil deposited for the purpose of filling a deep
depression valley and gorge or for raising the site above its natural level. The site terrain was initially undulating
and sloppy. Part of the site was originally a swampy area but later reclaimed and developed. A building was first
constructed on the site using mud block in the early 1960 which was used as classrooms by Saint Thomas’s
Primary School and Sunday School by the Saint Thomas’s Church. The partitions in the building were later
removed to convert the whole building to a place of worship. The building was later demolished and the place
was left open for many years before the plan to build this collapsed Church hall came up.

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The 2-storey framed structure collapsed after the casting of the 2nd
floor slab on 30th
of September 1998. There
were some signs noticed prior to the collapse. Concreting of the 2nd
floor slab had already been completed that
day when suddenly the pillars at the ground floor started making sounds of strains, particles of concrete columns
started wangling and twisting. Also, buckling of the steel at the base, crushing of materials and concrete cover
giving way exposing the column reinforcement which are caused by overloading were noticed. Eventually, sound
of explosion perhaps, after reaching the yield point occurred.
The architectural and structural designs of the collapsed building were done by FUTA ventures Limited at the
Federal University of Technology, Akure. The building was designed for a single storey building. During the
construction, the number of floors was increased to two to become a two-storey building without any
corresponding modification to the structural design. Simire (2001) disclosed the collapse of a three-storey Mosque
building, where so many people died because of a heavy rain downpour. The structure was located at Buhari
Street, Mushin, Lagos and collapsed on 20th
April, 2001. It was gathered that the structure was formerly a
bungalow and that the addition of one floor was too much for the foundation, which was not initially designed to
carry such a load.
Aderibigbe (2001) reported the collapse of a four storey structure located at Akewusola Street, off Oduduwa
Street, Oworosonki, in the Kosofe Local Government Area of Lagos State. The incident claimed at least one life
with three others seriously wounded. According to the report, the structure was initially built as a bungalow
without an approved building plan. Information revealed that the addition of more floors led to the collapse before
the completion. Also, it was gathered that the landlord of the house was the Architect, the builder and the
supervisor. Table 1 shows details of some collapsed buildings in Nigeria and around the world.
Table 1: Some Collapsed buildings in Nigeria and Abroad. (1977 – 2003)
S/N Type of Building
Structure
Location of
Building
Failure
Collapse Date
Suspected
Causes
Remarks
1 Residential
Buildings
Bamawa Housing
Estate, Kaduna,
Kaduna State
August 1977 Faulty Design 28 People died
2. One Storey building 75, Ijoka Road
Oluwatuyi Qtrs,
Akure
1982 Under-
Reinforcement,
Lack of Qualified
Professional to
supervise
No Casualty
3 One Storey Building 12, Gbogi Street, Akure August 1983 Fire disaster 2 died
4 4-storey Commercial
Building(LACCO)
Oba Adesida Road,
Akure
October, 1983 Fire disaster No casualty
5 Residential
Building
Adeniji Adele, Lagos January, 1985 Excessive Loading 2 died including
Owner
6 Uncompleted 4-
storey building
Aponri, Lagos May 20, 1985 Structural Failure 13 people
Reported dead
7 One-strey
Building
14, Ayegunle Street
Off Arakale, Akure
1985 Foundation
Problem
No casualty,
Occupant already
Abandoned the
Building
8 Residential
Building
Idusagbe lane,
Idumota Lagos
September 14,
1987
No structural
Design
17 people died
12 persons
Injured
9 School building Diobu, Port Harcourt April, 1990 No structural
Design and
Approval of Town
planning
Over 50 people
Reported dead
10 One storey
(Mud building)
6, Stadium Road,
General Hospital
Ondo
May, 1999 Lack of
Reinforced
Structural
members
No casualty

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11 One-storey building 4 Oke-Bola St., Ado
Ekiti
1999 Fire disaster and
dereliction of the
building
No casualty
12 One-storey
building
Bishop’s Court
Diocese, Ife Road,
Ondo
1999 Under-
reinforcement,
poor workmanship
improper
supervision
No casualty
13 One-storey
building
No. 23 Odi Olowo,
Akure
1999 No site
Investigation
And foundation
problem
Sank and
Collapsed but
no casualty
14 2Nos, One-storey
building
Owa Ale of Ikare,
Ogbagi Street, Ikare
2001 Fire disaster No casualty
15 One – Storey
Residential building
69, Odo Koyi, Akure September,
2001
Foundation
Problem
No casualty
16 Many buildings Odoso compound,
Ikare
February, 26
2002
Fire disaster No casualty
17 One-storey Building
(Ogbo’s
House)
16, Oyemekun road,
Akure
Nov. 22, 2002 Fire disaster No casualty
18 Methodist Primary
School building
12 Methodist Church,
Road, Gbogi, Akure
16 April, 2003 Rain storm No casualty
19 Church building
Porch deck.
15, Ojuelegba, Akure April 25, 2003 Poor workmanship
and under-
reinforcement
No casualty
20 Portal framed
structure
Onyearugbulem
market, Akure
May 2003 Poor workmanship
and under-
reinforcement
of the
cantilevering end
No casualty
21 Residential buildings Saravyero
Yugoslavia
November,
1978
Earthquakes 1,160 people
died
22 Commercial building Mexico City 15th
September,
1985
Structural failure
as a result of
Earthquakes
Many died
23 Juarez Hospital
Framed structure
Mexico City 1985 Localized Failures
at the
Beam-to-beam
Joints of each
Floor
400 medical
personnel and
patience were
trapped
24 A luxury apartment
block
Alexandria 1992 Structural Failure 20 people died
25 Two separate
buildings
Egypt 1992 Structural failure 30 people died
26 Buildings collapse Turkey March, 1992 Twin Earthquakes Over 4,000
People died
27 Café and coffee
House and many
others
Jerusalem, Israel March, 1992 Mudslides caused
by some of the
same unusual
weather that
caused blizzard
and flood in the
middle east
Over 20
People were
killed

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28 Israel Embassy Argentina March, 1992 Car Bomb donated
by
Islamic Jihad
More than 27
people died
29 A Tower and
Many office
Buildings
Sanferrado valley,
Northern Los
Angeles
17th
January,
1994
Earthquakes 57 died and
1,500 injured
30 Apartment block Foggia, Rome December,
1998
Structural failure 17 people died
31 World Trade Centre Washington DC,
America
11th
September,
1999
Terrorist Attack Over 1000
People dead
32 Many tall buildings Paraguay 9th
Nov. 2001 Earthquakes 125 people
Dead
33 Many buildings Brazil 16th
February,
2002
Seismic forces
Due to
Earthquakes
Over 1000
People dead
34 School building Turkey 18th
April,
2003
Earthquakes Over 200
students died
35 Partially built
supermarket
Southern city of
Jiangmen, China
8th
October,
2003
Structural problem More than 10
People died, 5
People missing,
5 people injured
36 10-storey Atlantic
City Garage
Atlantic City, South
Jersey, America
30th
October,
2003
Cracks developed
in
the concrete
Floor/columns
4 people died
and 21
persons
injured
37 A 3-storey church
Under
Refurbishment
1713 Arctic
Avenue, Atlantic
City, U. S
9th
November,
2003
A steel Support
brace gave out
No death
recorded
Sources: Fakere, Fadairo and Fakere (2012); Ogunsemi (2002); Nigeria Daily News Papers (1977-2003)
III. METHODOLOGY
In order to fulfill the objectives of this research, some collapsed building locations were visited in Akure, Ikare,
Ondo, Irele and Ado Ekiti. Physical inspection of various sites where collapse occurred were carried out. Data
collected were analyzed to arrive at logical conclusion. Information was collected through Nigeria Daily News
papers from 1977 to 2003 and Engineering Journals from where Data on Building collapse were collected to tackle
menace of Building collapse in our society. Representative samples of concrete rubbles were collected and
analyzed in the laboratory. The tests performed include mineralogy and crushing tests. From these, the
compressive strength of concrete and suitability of the building materials were determined for comparison with
the standards. The design drawings used for the construction were collected, checked and analyzed. This is to
ascertain whether design errors were made from the professional engaged for the design of the collapse building
of St. Thomas’s Anglican Church Akure.
IV. DATA ANALYSIS RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
Mineralogy test: In Table 2, it was discovered that the percentage of Biotite is too high in the construction
aggregate materials. Biotite is particularly susceptible to moisture attack. Twidale (1982) pointed out that in an
environment exposed to moisture, mica takes water into its lattice and expands, particularly along basal cleavage.
The fractures developed in the expanded biotite extend as micro-fissures through adjacent quartz and feldspar
crystal. The biotite is altered to hydrobiotite. The chemical changes are slighting involving oxidation of iron II
to Iron III and the replacement of potassium by water molecules. This leads to expansion and distintegration.
When this problem occurs, the concrete is weakened and eventually leads to structural failure. In the mineralogy
test carried out on the Aggregate used for the construction of the structural members of the collapsed building,
sample A contains 70% feldspar, 8% muscovite, 6% Biotite, and 6% Quartz, 4% Mont morillonites, 3% kaolinite
and 3% Illites. In sample B, Quartz is 60%, Biotite is 30% and Muscovite is 10%. In Sample C, the dominant is
mainly Biotite with minute accessories of muscovite and quartz. From the above analysis, Biotite is considered

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to be the most dominant mineral of the granite material followed by feldspar and muscovite. However, we can
conclude that Biotite is dominant of the aggregate used for the construction of the collapsed building and therefore
one of the factors that led to the failure of the structural members of the building.
Table 2:Mineralogy Test
Sample Minerals Percentage (%)
Sample A
Granite but feldspathic
Feldspar
Muscovite
Quartz
Biotite
Montmorillonites
Kaolinite
Illites
70
8
6
6
4
3
3
Sample B
Porphyritic
Granite but Quartzitic
Quartz
Biotite
Muscovite
60
30
10
Sample c
Charnockitic
Mainly Biotite with
Minute particles of
Muscovite and quartz
Over 80%
Biotite
Compressive strength of concrete : In Table 3, the average crushing strength of 4.9 N/mm2
is obtained. This
value is too much below the cube strength expected for ratio 1:2:4 mix design after 28 days of curing. Though
the concrete samples collected for testing had been exposed in the atmosphere for 4 to 5 years which invariably
might have reduced the crushing strength of the concrete. Also, the effect of the collapse would also have reduced
the strength of the concrete. Notwithstanding, the value would not have been reduced drastically. Higher result
should have been obtained. It could be remarked that mix ratio of the concrete material used for the construction
was obviously less than 1:2:4 mix ratio.Therefore, it could be concluded that the workmanship during the
construction of the collapsed building was poor. This in fact must have contributed to the weak structural members
like columns, beams and slab, which led to the collapse of the building. Tomilinson (1980) pointed out that the
principal cause of deterioration of concrete in foundation is attack by sulphates present in the soil, in the ground
water or in sea water. Other agencies causing deterioration include chemical waste, organic acids, frost, sea action,
certain deleterious aggregates and corrosion of reinforcement. All these could reduce the strength of concrete and
eventually lead to collapse of building. It was alleged that vibration machine was not used during the casting of
the concrete works in the collapsed building. Also, insufficient cover in the structural members would have led
to corrosion of reinforcement in the concrete. All these amounted to poor workmanship as part of the principal
factors that led to the collapse of the building.
Table 3: Compressive Strength of Concrete
Cube
No
Age of
testing
Date
tested
Weight
of cube
(gm)
Density
Kg/m3
Crushing
Load (N)
Crushing
strength
N/mm2
A Over
28 days
18/12/03 4958 8471 20,000 5.2
B “ “ 3630 6694 15,000 2.8
C “ “ 4150 6072 20,000 3.6
D “ “ 4170 6043 15,000 3.2
E “ “ 3040 7737 5,000 6.9
F “ “ 6658 4326 15,000 3.8
G “ “ 2795 3864 3,000 6.2
H “ “ 2870 4014 5,000 4.9
I “ “ 3590 4308 3,000 7.0
J “ “ 3504 2354 5,000 5.8
Average Crushing Strength = 4.9N/mm2
Standard value Range = 21 – 22 N/mm2
Checking of the Selected Beams : The structural design and detailing of the collapsed Saint Thomas’s Church
Hall was carried out by FUTA Ventures of Federal University of Technology, Akure. The Beams and columns

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layout are shown in figure 1. In Table 4, all the beams checked were normally reinforced except beam eight, which
was over-reinforced. An over-reinforced section, which fails in flexural compression, contains more
reinforcement than is required to give a balanced section. As the applied moment is increased, the concrete attains
its ultimate stress value first, so that by the load is increased continually, since overstress in concrete occurs earlier
than in reinforcement any failure is sudden. The depth of the compression zone is increased to a value greater
than the balance section. An under-reinforced section on the other hand which fails in flexural tension contains
too little reinforcement to permit the balance section to be developed. In under reinforced section, cracks open
when the stresses in tension reinforcement attain yield value. The depth of the compression zone is reduced to a
value lower than the balance section. In this case since less material is used and besides since when overstressed
the reinforcement yields, it is still able to support the yield stress, failure here is gradual. The depth to the central
axis is less than the Balance section. In order to determine whether a section is over-or-under reinforced therefore
it is necessary to calculate the position of both the balanced and the actual neutral axis considering or to compare
the total area of reinforcement divided by the product of width and depth with the values specified by B. S. 8110
(1995).
From the reports collected, the failure of the collapse building started from the columns. This occurred within the
30 seconds prior the collapse as the columns started twisting, wangling and buckling with the throwing of stones
from the existing columns and removal of the cover provided in the columns. According to Mosley and Bungey
(1982) short columns usually fail by crushing and slender column is liable to fail by buckling. If the failure started
from the columns as indicated above, most of the columns must have been wrongly designed. Perhaps, all were
designed as short columns. Hence, columns three and four about 25 numbers, which should have been designed
as slender columns would fail by buckling. We can deduce that part of the reasons of the collapse are buckling of
the columns due to overloading of the few columns provided and over-reinforcement of some of the structural
members. Also, the addition of one floor to the one storey designed during construction would have some effect
on the foundation base. Overloading would cause the earth pressure of the foundation base to increase and bending
failure of the columns base would occur. In Table 4, all the beams checked were normally reinforced except beam
eight, which was over-reinforced.
Table 4: The Summary after checking the selected beams Designed by FUTA ventures
BEAMS SELECTED REMARKS
6 Normally Reinforced
7 Normally Reinforced
8 Over – Reinforced
9 Normally Reinforced
12 Normally Reinforced
13 Normally Reinforced
14 Normally Reinforced
15 Normally Reinforced

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Figure 1: Beams and Columns Layout of the collapse St. Thomas’s Church Hall.
V. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The causes of building collapse generally may be attributed to a number of reasons among which are lack of town
planning approval, alterations to the approved design, negligence to specification, ignorance and greed on the part
of the client and contractors, lack of proper soil investigation of the soil, poor quality design, inefficient
supervision, inadequate quality control, differential settlement of foundation and wind forces causing lateral
deflection. Others are bad quality materials, overloading, poor workmanship, earthquakes, bomb blast and fire
disaster. Therefore, the collapse of Saint Thomas’s Church Hall, Akure was caused by poor design, poor
workmanships, lack of thorough supervision, overloading through the addition of one floor and defect of the
coarse aggregated materials. From the conclusion of this study, the followings are some suggestions and
recommendation on safe delivery of structures particularly building projects.
[3]. All clients or building developers should be compelled to comply with approved building plans before the
construction of their building and that all building construction works should be well designed and
supervised by a registered member of Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN),
Architects Registration Council of Nigeria (ARCON) and Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria
(CORBON) Competent registered Contractors should be employed to supervise construction works or
projects.
[4]. Regular workshops such as the one by the Nigeria Society of Engineers (NSE) and COREN should be held
to improve the professional competence of members.
[5]. There should be a law providing heavy penalties for Contractors who fail to have registered professionals
in supervisory capacity in major building projects. Systematic inspection of building works should be

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enforced at the Local Government level and penalties for failure to comply with the building standard
regulation should be provided for.
[6]. All building construction materials like sand, cement, aggregate, reinforcement bars and particularly
foundation soil should be tested before the commencement of any construction. The mineralogy and
Alkalinity tests of coarse aggregates should be done to know whether the material contains some percentage
of impurities, which are deleterious and injurious to cement and reinforcement rods.
[7]. Government should quickly promulgate a national building regulation for the elimination or considerate
reduction of the incessant collapse of buildings in Nigeria and quick response committee for investigating
incidents of building collapse should be formed.
[8]. The law governing all approved structural details of buildings, materials and effective supervision by the
local Town Planning Authorities should be enforced and not be compromised. Section 2(1) of Ondo State
Building and sub division regulations 1984 demands that no building or structure or any part thereof should
be erected, converted, altered or enlarged unless a development permit has been obtained by the owner or
his agent from the ministry. This provision, which is also contained in section 3(1) of Nigerian Urban and
Regional Planning Decree 88 of 1082, should be enforced.
[9]. Government should exercise leadership in protecting and enhancing the quality of all the buildings by
encouraging regular maintenance so as to sustain human life.
[10]. All Government functionaries and building developers should be properly trained and encouraged to always
give construction of large scale buildings to competent and registered Contractors who will also be
supervised by a registered structural engineering Consultant and Architect who preferably have designed
such projects.
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Naval Building, Abuja. International Journal of Engineering and Technology, 2 (4).
3. Izoma, P.C. (2001). The place of Housing in Nigeria Economic. Journal of the Nigeria Institute of Quantity
Surveyors, Vol. 35, ISSN: 116 – 915x.
4. McGinley, T. J. (1998). Steel Structures: Practical Design Studies. Saint Edmundsbury Press, New Delhi,
Second Edition.
5. Marchall, W. T. & Nelson, H. M. (1981). Structural Design. Pitman Publishing Ltd., New York, Second
Edtition.
6. Ogunsemi, D. R. (2002). Building collapse causes, prevention and remedies. The Nigerian Institute of
Building, Ondo.
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